Transparent license-tag and holder.



H. W. PAYNTER. TRANSPARENT LICENSE TAG AND HOLDER. APPLICATION man APR. I8. 1916.

I Patented Sapt. 4, 191?.

Nll ll 2A2 A'TNT FFTQE.

HOWARD W. PAYNTER, 0F PHILADELPHIA, PENNSYLVANIAIASSIGNOR OF ONE-HALF T0 HERBERT A. PAYNTER, OF PHILADELPHIA, PENNSYLVANIA.

TRANSPARENT LICENSE-TAG AND HOLDER.

. Specification of LettersPatent.

Patented Sept. 4t, 1121?.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, HOWARD W. PAYNTER,

a citizen of the United States, and a resiof diiferent sizes and one which can be readily cleaned and repaired.

With this and other objects in view my ivention consists in certain features of construction and arrangement of parts as will be hereinafter fully described and pointed out in the claims, reference being had to the accompanying drawing in which Figure 1 is a perspective view of my invention as it will appear in use.

Fig. 2 is a vertical section taken on line 22 of Fig. 3.

Fig. 3 is a horizontal section taken on line 33 of Fig. 2.

Fig. 4 is an enlarged'vertical section.

Referring more particularly to the drawings 10 is a rectangular member open at one end and having at its opposite end a reduced and rounded prolongation 11 which has a circular forwardly projecting flange 12 which is threaded to receive a threaded ring 13 to hold a bulls eye 14 of suitable colored glass or other transparent ortranslucent material; the front of the member 10 is cut out and has the flanges 10 and 10 against which bears a plate of glass 15 to the rear face of which is applied an opaque sheet of celluloid or other suitable material 16 having cut out or stenciled the required characters 16 to represent the number of the license, the year for which it is issued and the State issuing it. Across'the back of the celluloid sheet 16 is applied a sheet of preferably white material 17 sharply contrasting with the color of the celluloid sheet. Near the lower flange 10 and secured to the upper and lower walls of the member 10 I are the resilient strips .or flanges 10 and 10 which bear against the back of the plate bearing the license number and characters and holds it against the front face of the member 10; this strip 10 also forms with the back of the member a channel 18 in which is slid a tubular conductor conduit 19 which is bent upwardly at 20 and then horizontally at 21 and carries at its extreme end a small electric incandescent bulb light 22 which projects into the prolongation 11 behind the bulls eye 14:. At suitable points in the pipe are T branches 23 carrying electric bulb lights 24 which will be behind the plate 15 so that the light may shine through the white paper or translucent backing and glass. The flange 10 bears against the tubular conduit 19 holding it snugly in place against the back of the box and prevents displacement or rattling.

A second member 25 rectangular in shape and having the front open and flanged at 25 and 25 telescopes over the open end of member 10 and has projecting through its closed end the nipple 26 which is threaded on and thus secured to the conductor pipe 19 the outer end of the thimble being enlarged or expanded at 26 so that the electric conductor maypass freely to some suitable source of electricity appropriately located on the automobile. The closed end of member 25 has a continuous vertical strip of resilient material 27 secured to its inner face which bears against the backing of the plate and serves to hold the same firmly in place when the telescoping members are placed in proper juxtaposition.

Projecting from the rear walls of the casing are the threaded bolts 28 which are to be passed through openings in a bracket on the automobile to support the indicator and securely held thereto by nuts screwed on the ends of the bolts, the bolts being unmovably secured to the casing by upsetting the heads and by jam nuts.

The enlargement 26 of the thimble 26 is for the purpose of allowing freedom of the conductor wires and preventing their chafing or wear.

By placing the conductor wires in the tubing 19 they are protected against wear and from influence, by the weather and moisture or dampness, and as the electric lights themselves are behind the transparent plate they are protected from accident. I

Any suitable colored celluloid may be used and also any suitable paper or translucent backing used, though I have found that dark brown celluloid and white backing produce highly satisfactory contrasting results which are equally efficacious in daylight or at night.

It will be seen that I use few parts which are readily separable and detachable and that the device can be quickly cleaned and repaired such as replacing broken and worn out bulbs and other parts which may become broken.

The flanges 10-10 and the resilient strips 10 and 25 securely. and at the same time yieldingly hold the glass plate in place so that there is little or no danger of breakage from jar or olting. Furthermore if the bulb which supplies light to the bulls eye becomes deficient in any way it can-be readily removed and replaced by simply removing the ring 13 and the bulls eye which can be done in a few seconds.

The parts all fit snugly and are Weather tight so that the inner elements are not subject to atmospheric changes. By threading the thimblc 26 on the conduit 19, it is held in place and against longitudinal movement.

As the casing of the device consists of two telescopic members it is extensible and can be made to fit any size character plate.

It will also be seen that I produce in one structure a combination tail light, sign or license plate and holder for the same.

I claim 1. A device of the character described, consisting of a casing comprising two separable telescoping members having alined openings in j the front faces thereof one member havingan interior resilient flange projecting upwardly from its lower wall, and a tubular light conduit secured in the closed end of the second member, the. afore said resilient flange serving the double function of holding a character sign plate against the front wall of the casing and to hold the light conduit against the rear wall of the casing, said light conduit being removable from the casing with the second member.

2. A combination tail light, sign plate and holder, consisting of a telescopic casing formed of two telescoping members having vertical and horizontal front flanges, one member having upper and lower interior resilient horizontal flanges to hold a sign plate one end and a bulls eye carried thereby, the

sign plate constituting approximately the front of the casing, an upstanding resilient flange within the longitudinal front end of 70 the casing, a tubular electric wire conduit mounted within the casing between the aforesaid resilient flange and the back wall, said conduit having illuminating means projecting therefrom behind the sign plate and having one end bent to project to the rear of the bulls eye, a thimble secured to the end of the second member of the casing and projecting from said member, said thimble having an enlarged diameter at its free end to permit freedom of movement-of an electric conductor carried by the conduit.

4. A combined tail light sign plate and holder consisting of a telescopic casing formed of two telescoping members, one member having continuous resilient interior horizontal flanges, and the other member having a continuous resilient interior vertical flange and illuminating means within the casing resiliently held against the back of the casing by one of-the horizontal resilient flanges, and said resilient flanges also yieldingly holding the sign plate in position against the front face of the casing.

5. A combined tail light, sign plate, and 95 light holder, comprising a casing consisting of two telescoping members having alined openings in their front faces, one member having .upperi and lower horizontally disposed interior flexible flanges, and the other 100 member having a vertical interior flexible flange, a light carrying conduit held between one of the said horizontally disposed flanges and the rear wall of the casing, and

a sign plate heldiagainst the front of the 105 casing by said flexible flanges.

HOWARD W. PAYNTER. 

